Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale Essay

Art and Nature in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale In Shakespeare’s â€Å"The Winter’s Tale†, we see a jealous king convinced he is search of the truth. He will expose his wife and her alleged philandering, but his determination to prove this actually changes this search from one for truth to one for myths—creations, false truths. In essence. Leontes runs into the conflict of defining art versus nature, where art is the view of the world he constructs to prove his paranoia true. Nature itself can exist without art, but the art here is the mangled perception through which Leontes will seek to define Nature. In summation, â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† investigates the conflict between art and nature—creation versus enhancement—and seeks to find out if†¦show more content†¦In other words, the assumed unfaithfulness of his wife, will wreak havoc, like a galactic body. This is a bizarre comparison—a wife and her alleged infidelity to a planet in outer space that will destr uct in the name of vengeance. As bizarre as it is, it accomplishes the task of enhancing the dichotomy of what is real and what is a fabrication of imagination. Art, in â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† is not merely expression but creation over nature. As his paints a dramatically depressed view of reality, it becomes clear how his perception of what is actually in nature has been heinously corrupted because of a search for truth predicated on validating flippant worries. He carries on: â€Å"To mingle friendship far is mingling bloods. I have tremor cordis on me. My heart dances, but not for joy, not joy.†, showing the extent to which he cannot see the truth—what is actually present in nature, but also how manically crazed he is. For example, Leontes seems to think nothing is odd about calling his son into speak to him, and merely asking, â€Å"Mamillius, art thou my boy?†. His tone here is light, and conveys this idea that not only is what he asking logi cal and understandable but normal. It speaks volumes to art’s influence on Leontes to make him so selfish and wrapped up in his own desperate story. Since â€Å"The Winter’s Tale† is a grandiose character play, where Shakespeare himself battles art and nature with characters that put on alter egos and defenses overShow MoreRelatedTheme Of The Cherry Orchard And The Cherry Orchard748 Words   |  3 Pageshistory, human relationships, wars, and art to try to gain some kind of small understanding of time. This is especially true in the Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare and The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov. In the Winter’s Tale, Time is personified as jaunty, powerful narrator whilst Chekov’s the Cherry Orchard utilizes the symbolism of the cherry orchard itself and the character Fiers to signify time as an inevitable force that changes societies, families, nature, and individuals. 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